Do you know what it feels like to light a candle in the window then wait for someone to come home? Have you ever? I have done so both literally and figuratively. The candlelight signals that the door is still open. All is well. All is forgiven. The candlelight reflects back in the window pane another message to the candle lighter: There is hope.
Forgiveness and hope burn the candle on both ends as partners in love. Forgiveness is of the will: Will I or will I not forgive you this time, yet again? It's always a choice, a decision to be made. Hope is of the heart: I light my candle in the dark hoping that someone will find their way, or that I will find mine. Who hasn't been on one side of a closed door as either candle lighter or wayfarer looking for a light to find the way?
The act of lighting a candle for another often comes from a deep seated desire to say something into the darkness that words cannot. Searching for the right words to say is one of the hardest and holiest earthly needs we all share. We all need to speak our truth with love and we all need to be heard.
Symbolically, Christmastide is full of candlelighting both at home and in some churches. I have given and received many candles over the years, including this Christmas. The promise is the same whether one is the giver or the receiver: This candle will be lit by you or me with hope for something in our hearts. Maybe that something is what we cannot say -- cannot find words to speak because it would bring to light the deepest hope and fears of our heart and soul.
. . ." The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." We don't stop singing when we get to that line in the carol. We sing through to the end. Yet, how profound are those words that speak for us, the way a candle lights our way.
As far as I know, there is no statute of limitations on actively waiting with hope. It's not a waiting game of outlasting another, or trying to beat the time clock. We have hope. Must have, but how? I believe hope is a stance, a position with which we turn and face the world. Without hope, how dark things would be, like darkness without candlelight. Let's not pretend that we don't need hope because more than ever, we most certainly do. We can be both candle lighter and the one looking for the light. Both require hope. Whenever we put a candle in the window, literally or figuratively, we can't help but wonder: Will it be seen? Will it help bring someone home? Will it help me to find my way? Will it help me to feel hopeful? We won't know unless we try. What do we have to lose?
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